Dental finger-guard.



No. 689,940 Patented Dec. 3|, l90l.

G. M. WlLLlAMS.

DENTAL FINGER GUARD.

(Application filed Apr. 20. 1901.)

,(Ho Model.)

I I I f I \Afim -gzys UNTTET) STATES PATENT ()EEICE.

GILBERT M. IVILLIAMS, OF MAYSVILLE, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- IIALF TODE WITT O. FRANKLIN, OF MAYSVILLE, KENTUCKY.

DENTAL FINGER-GUARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 689,940, dated December31, 1901. Application filed April 20, 1901. Serial No. 56,775. (No modelT0 ctZl whom it may concern.-

Beit known thatI, GILBERT M. WILLIAMS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Maysville, in the county of Mason and State of Kentucky,haveinvented anew and useful Dental Finger-Guard, of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates to dentalappliances, and has for its object toprovide means for the protection of the fingers of an operator whenpolishing a filling in the tooth of a patient with an ordinary polishingor abrading strip commonly held in the hand and pressed against thefilling by the forefinger or thumb. It is furthermore designed toprovide such means in the form of a finger-clip constructed to bereadily slipped upon the tip of the finger, so as to protect the samefrom abrasion by contact with a rough tooth or filling, and alsoconstructed to hold the polishing-strip and prevent the latter fromslipping from the finger and cutting the gums of the patient.

\Vith these and other objects in view the present invention consists inthe combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter morefully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and particularlypointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes inthe form, proportion, size, and minor details may be made within thescope of the claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing anyof the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the applicationof the present device. Fig. 2 is a perspective view looking at the frontside of the dental-finger protector. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation thereof.Fig. at is a front elevation. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of amodified form of the device. Fig. 6 is a rear elevation thereof.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in all of thefigures of the drawings.

In carrying out the present invention there is provided a substantiallysemitubular piece of sheet spring metal to form the body 1 of thedevice, the rear edge thereof being rounded or convex, as at 2, whileone corner of the front edge has a portion out therefrom,

so as to produce a terminal forwardly-directed projection which conformsto the general tubular shape of the finger piece and is taperedoutwardly,the outer extremity thereof being bent back upon the outerconvex side thereof to form an overhanging lip or ear 4, which is spacedslightly from the projection. At the opposite rear corners of the part 1the latter is extended laterally outward in opposite directions andbowed around across the concaved inner side of the body, so as to formthe outavardly-tapered and reduced spring-clips 5, which are designed toelastically embrace the back of the finger or thumb to which the guardmay be applied, whereby the front of the guard covers the front of thefinger-tip. At the base of What will be termed the upper edge of theprojection 3, as shown in Fig. 2, there is formed a slight notch 6, andthe portion of the guard which is cut out to form the notch is bent overacross the projection, so as to form an overhanging lip or car 7,arranged opposite and also reversely with respect to the terminal lip 4and designed to cooperate therewith and form a seat for the reception ofthe ordinarypolishingorabradingstrip8. (Shownin Fig. 1.) This stripisslid endwise across the front of the guard from the rear end thereof andbetween the opposite lips 4 and 7, which snugly embrace the oppositeedges of the strip, and thereby hold the same flat against the front ofthe guard, and thereby prevent the strip from slipping from the' fingerand cutting the gums ot' the patient when polishing a rough filling. Themetallic guard also forms a firm backing for the polishing-strip andlikewise protects the finger of the operator from injury upon any roughportions of teeth and fillings.

In Figs. 5 and 6 there has been shown a modified form of thejdevice, inwhich the rear lip '7 has been omitted, the guard being otherwise thesame as hereinbefore described. In this latter form of the device itrequires two hands to perform the polishing operation, as the single lipmerely prevents lateral displacement of the polishing-strip in onedirection, the other hand of the operator being used to hold the freeend of the strip, so as to prevent displacement thereof, whereby thewww'" IOO latter form of the device is essentially a guard to preventZinju-ry to the finger rather than a holder for the polishing-strip,

What is claimed is- 1. A combined dental finger-guard andpolishing-strip holder constructed for detachable application to the tipof a finger, and having means for holding a polishing-strip across theouter or front side of t-heguard.

2. A dental finger-guard for use in polishing teeth and fillings,consisting of a guardplate which is constructed to fit the inner side ofthe tip of a finger, and having opposite Spring-clips constructed toembrace the back of the finger to which the guard is applied.

3. A dental finger-guard, consisting of a plate which is bowed to fittheinner side of the tip of afinger, and has a forwardly-directed forapplication to the innerside of the tip of a finger, and having alongitudinal forwardlydirected projection at one edge thereof, the outerterminal of the projection being bent over across the outer side thereofto form an overhanging lip constructed to embrace one edge of apolishing-strip and hold the same to the guard.

6. Adental finger-guard and polishing-strip holder consistin of aguard-plate constructed for application to the inner side'of the tip ofa finger, and having a longitudinal projection directed forwardly at oneedge thereof, the outer terminal of the projection being bent overacross the outer side thereof to form an overhanging lip, and therebeing a notch formed at the rear end of one edge of the projection, thematerial cut out by the notch being bent over across the projection toform an overhanging lip arranged opposite and reversely with respect tothe outer terminal lip.

.7. A dental finger-guard and polishing-strip holder formed from asingle blank of metal, which is bowed laterally to fit the inner side ofthe tip of a finger, there being a portion of the plate projectedforwardly at one edge thereof and tapered outwardly, said projectionconforming to the general lateral bow of the plate and also being bowedlongitudinally, the outer terminal of the projection being bent overacross the outer convex side thereof to form an overhanging lip,the'base portion of one edge of the projection being notched and theportion cut out thereby beingbent over across the projection to form anoverhanging lip arranged opposite and reversely with respect to theouter terminal lip, and the opposite rear corners of the plate beingextended in opposite directions and bowed across the inner concave sideof the plateto form spring finger-embracing clips.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

v GILBERT M. WILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

GEORGE W. Woon, B. B. PoLLITT.

